Jingoistic flag-waving World War II drama about ten
stiff upper lip hero Brit soldiers on a voluntary
suicide mission to travel by canoe from Portsmouth,
England, and take out with limpet mines a valued
German shipyard in Bordeaux--part of occupied France
(it was filmed in Portugal). José Ferrer ("The
Great Man"/"I Accuse!"/"The High Cost of Loving")
stars and he directs by shooting it in a
semi-documentary style. The film builds in tension to
the exciting climax, but it's so predictable one might
easily tune out well before the action begins.
Screenwriters Bryan Forbes and Richard Malbaum base it
on The Reader's Digest story by George Kent. This
marks the first appearance by Trevor Howard in an
American film, and the bad-tempered Royal Marine
officer he plays steals the pic and helps one keep
their mind off all the clichés and the familiar
ground covered. Naturally this crowd-pleaser was a big
box-office success. Albert R. Broccoli, one of the
producers of the James Bond film series, is coproducer
with Irving Allen.

In March 1942, at the Royal Marines base in
Portsmouth, England, Capt. Hugh Thompson (Trevor
Howard), a hard-nosed career officer has been assigned
to be under the command of an acting major named
Stringer (Jose Ferrer). The major has sold the brass
on his risky unconventional sneak attack plan. The
by-the-book Thompson and the undisciplined Stringer
clash over practice methods, with Thompson miffed at
his superior's lax ways. Sgt. Craig (Victor Madden), a
clone of Thompson, begins to close-order drill the men
the tough old-fashioned way, as the two officers argue
over training methods.

Most of the film is occupied with the choosing of
the eight volunteers from the 44 and training the men
to make the grade for the job. The odd-lot of men
chosen are: Clarke (Anthony Newley), Ruddock (David
Lodge), Stevens (Peter Arne), Lomas (Percy Herbert),
Booth (Graham Stewart), Cooney (John Fabian), Bradley
(John Van Eyssen) and Todd (Rosbert Desmond). What
they all have in common is the ability to show
initiative and think for themselves. Along with the
two officers, they go on five tiny kayaks to complete
their mission to take out German shipping.

In actuality, only two of the ten men survived the
historical operation (which is also the same in the
film). The clash between the gung-ho career military
man Howard and the nonmilitary approach of the
humanitarian temporary officer Ferrer was pure fiction
and seemed uninspired nonsense that only helped make
the film more tedious than it should have been. It was
all too obvious that by the final act the two
opposites would unite in a gesture of
patriotism.

It's routine fare, that is well-made, has the look
of authenticity thanks to the cooperation of the Royal
Navy, and the spirited performances portray the
deserving heroes in a good light.